All of a sudden, beater guitar sounds really dark, what can I do?

[Shiny Turd]

Hi, I searched the web for a possible answer, didn't found anything.

My 2004 Prs tremonti SE ( it's a beater guitar, backup on the road, etc) started sounding REALLY dark, it has been setup by a pro but he didn't noticed any weird things.

The strings are fresh 010's, the pickups are duncans ( sh4 on the bridge), and plays great, but it sounds really muddy and dark. When I bought it it didn't sounded like that so I can't really blame on the guitar itself rather than "something" that happened over the years.

Any ideas? could it be the bridge? unplugged I can tell it sounds darker than a bolt on guitar, but not dead. My LP Studio sounds the same way unplugged, at least from what I hear.

It's like ( we're in gearslutz right?) it had a 5K rolloff, to explain it somehow.

Thanks in advance!

[HobbyCore]

Sounds like a bad pot in the rolloff circuit. Any half-decent guitar tech should be able to check and fix it in just a few minutes.

[Shiny Turd]

Thanks for the reply

I don't think it's a pot, since all 4 pots were changed to cts ones like a year ago.
Even if it was a pot, well, it happens on both pickups.

[kafka]

How much do you sweat? I've heard of guitars becoming sweat drenched over the years. Although, I've never experienced such a thing, and have always been at least somewhat skeptical that it's a real issue. I guess it could be possible, under the right circumstances.

[theGeek]

how long have you had the guitar and how much use does it get?

I wouldn't have believed this if I didn't experience it myself but I had a Washburn guitar with a rosewood fingerboard that I bought used in High School and it was my only intrument for years. I practically lived with that thing in my hands and long story short the fingerboard got gross. It has a rosewood fingerboard and so I didn't really notice it.

But get yourself a good cleaner (Dunlop makes some good stuff) and clean it up... you may have to do it 2 or 3 times if its really dirty.

That will liven up your tone a lot.

[wesarvin]

This may sound mean, but do you have the tone knob turned the right way? It's gotta either be that or the cable. Try different cables, amps, newer strings, and check inside the back cavity and make sure that the CTS pots that they changed aren't shorting out anywhere.

[Chris Lago]

Originally Posted by guitarwes

This may sound mean, but do you have the tone knob turned the right way? It's gotta either be that or the cable. Try different cables, amps, newer strings, and check inside the back cavity and make sure that the CTS pots that they changed aren't shorting out anywhere.

I feel the same way... it could be the tone pot tutt

[Shiny Turd]

Originally Posted by guitarwes

This may sound mean, but do you have the tone knob turned the right way? It's gotta either be that or the cable. Try different cables, amps, newer strings, and check inside the back cavity and make sure that the CTS pots that they changed aren't shorting out anywhere.

It doesn't sound mean, but no, the tone pots are maxed...in the right direction
The cts pots were the first thing I checked, clean solder, nothing shorting out.
Cable is a mogami with neutrik connectors.
Strings were changed on monday, dunlop 10-46